Go! Go! Break Steady

Go! Go! Break Steady

Zuma is a game. Bust-a-Groove is a game. Go! Go! Break Steady is both those games in one.

Being a huge fan of both the originals mentioned above, it is great to get both of them in one package. The music is catchy and unobtrusive (except for the obligatory disco-styled track, but that's par for the course for rhythm games), and the challenge gets intense as the game throws you all sorts of puzzles on top of puzzles, new ways of presenting the beatniks, and a new trinket to "collect" by knocking out coins on each stage.

The action centers around knocking out an ever-growing but finite ring of "beatniks" (little Dr. Mario-inpired looking guys) by getting 3 or more together, but instead of just being given beatniks, you'll have to earn them by matching musical button-pushes during a series of urban music numbers, while your crudely-animated Flash avatar dances and sways. The game utilizes a "visual pollution" handicap similar to Space Giraffe to make the game more challenging as you get closer to a perfect combo meter, but this actually adds to the ambiance of the game instead of making it unplayable as in the aformentioned shooter.

This is not a game that tries to be more than it is, and by playing within itself it is competent, but not especially memorable. Some of the ways the notes come swinging in make it exceedingly difficult to actually figure out when they are passing through the ring denoted when to time your button presses, and the learning curve is unrepentant in its obtuseness, failing to give you even cursory explanation when a new gameplay mode is sprung on you.

Online is a lot of fun, assuming you can convince a friend to buy this game and play it with you - like all Arcade games not named Uno, the multiplayer for this game is deader than Dillinger, but the co-op is great because while both players work on their own rings of beatniks, you can see your partner's ring and watch his moves... and of course yell at him when he screws up.

Graphics: A half-dozen or so static, painted backgrounds and 3-frame animations of your avatar don't do this game any favors. 2.
Sound: Good song selection representing the B-Boy age of the late '80s in NYC. 4.
Controls: Moments of frustration when the notes come in a concentric pattern, but overall tight inputs. 4.
Tilt: If you're a fan of either of these type of games, you'll like this game. If you're a fan of both, you'll love it: 3
Overall (not an Average): 3